It was with great sadness that I learned on Saturday that the great Sir Bobby Robson had passed away. It's not that I was shocked, as Sir Bobby's long battle against illness was well documented. One could even say we were all waiting for the inevitable news to come one day. Still it hit me with a dull thud to the stomach and brought tears to my eyes.
My first real memories of Sir Bobby are mixed. Italy 1990. The Stadio Renato Dall'Ara on the 26th June. 119 minutes of superior football, with England clinging on for dear life in a game that Belgium could have, possibly should have won. There had been two Belgian efforts off the woodwork, one Enzo Scifo screamer that would easily have made Goal of the Tournament had it gone in. England had a valid goal disallowed for off side as well. It was a brilliant game of football, played between a Belgian side as strong as I have ever seen, and an England side that should really have gone on to win the World Cup. A fair game, too, with hardly any bookings. Just good, attacking football from both sides. Then, from a Paul Gascoigne free kick, came David Platt's moment. Many Forest fans would learn to hate him later, but he was England's hero of the day. And he is still possibly the most hated football player in our country, which surprised him no end, as he explained in a documentary about "that" game on Belgian television. He was just a player doing a job, he said. A player subbed in by Bobby Robson because he thought maybe the then young player of the season might give the team some extra options. If ever a substitution came off...
Bobby Robson's reaction after the game was what made me sit up and notice. A true gentleman, Robson said that this game should not have had a losing side, that he understood how cruel it was to the Belgian team and their fans. Our national manager cried, according to aforementioned documentary. So did most of Belgium, myself included. My passion for English football, however, made me follow England for the rest of that tournament, and I cried again when Chris Waddle missed that last penalty against Germany. England should have won that game and the tournament, because surely the Argentina of that edition would have been no match for Bobby's team in the final.
It would have made Bobby Robson immortal, even more of a legend than he is now, and probably a Sir long before his knighthood eventually came around. How he must have felt when Andreas Brehme converted that cheated penalty in the final to win the World Cup, we can only imagine. I sure know how I felt. That should have been England lifting that world cup. Arguably the best team in two successive world cups, cheated out in 1986, then out on penalties in 1990. Twice against the eventual world champions. Did England have the best players? No, but Bobby Robson moulded them into a superb, winning team.
Bobby went on to successes with Sporting Portugal, Porto, Barcelona and PSV before ending up at Newcastle. After three seasons of good results, mostly finishing just outside the "big four" places, with some decent runs in Europe, Sir Bobby was ousted at St-James' Park in a manner which I remember finding incredibly rude and lacking in any respect for the institution that Robson had by then become.
Things went rather quiet after that. And now the great Sir Bobby Robson is no more, leaving us with a lot of memories, and leaving the world of football orphaned. There will certainly be a minute's silence around the country at the start of the new season, just like there was at PSV's first game on Saturday. A minute that will chill me to the bone and may well bring a tear to my eye.
Rest in peace, Sir Bobby. Thanks for the memories, even "that" one.
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